Page 117 of Knot Their Safe Haven

I leaned forward, covering her hand with mine. "You’re not perfect because you endured that. You’re perfect because you survived it."

She looked up, finally, and I saw the glimmer of tears, fiercely checked. "You’re the first person who ever said that to me."

Alexis set her jaw tighter, but when she spoke, it was gentle.

"You’ll never have to sedate yourself for love again. Not with us. Never."

"That’s the first promise I’ve ever wanted kept." Velvet’s laugh was wet and shaky. “Maybe with how long it went on for, I thought I deserved it. That this was simply apart of the Omega role.”

The fury that rises in my chest is volcanic, but I breathe through it.

This isn't about my anger.

"How long?"

"Three years. Maybe four. Time blurs together when you're that lonely."

"That's not loneliness. That's conditioning." I take her hands, feeling them tremble. "He taught you that love required your unconsciousness. That desire needed your inability to consent. That's not love, Velvet. That's?—"

"I know what it is." Tears track down her cheeks. "But when it's all you have for two decades, you convince yourself it's enough."

"It's not enough. It was never enough."

"I know that now." She squeezes my hands. "Being with your pack—our pack—for three days has shown me more care than twenty years with them."

"You deserved better."

"I deserved what I accepted." The self-recrimination in her voice breaks my heart.

"No." I pull her against me, arms wrapping around her completely. "You deserved love that didn't hide. Touch that didn't require unconsciousness. Partners who'd claim you proudly instead of treating you like a guilty secret."

"Alessandro feeds me in public. You arrange private gardens. The twins kiss me at airports." She laughs wetly against my shoulder. "It's like experiencing romance through a language I never learned."

"Then we'll teach you. Every word, every gesture, until you're fluent in being treasured."

I pull back enough to see her face, thumbs wiping tears that keep falling.

"With us, you're in charge. Your desires matter. Your consent is continuous and enthusiastic or it doesn't happen. Whether that's private or public."

"Public might be illegal," she jokes weakly.

"Nothing's illegal when you have excellent lawyers."

That earns a real laugh, watery but genuine. I lean down, pressing lips to her forehead in benediction.

"I'm sorry you experienced that. Sorry they made you feel like crumbs were a feast. And I promise—no, I vow—you'll never feel taken advantage of again. Not by us. Not by anyone."

"That's a big promise."

"We're big on those. Haven't you noticed?"

She curls into me, and we sit there as shadows lengthen, surrounded by pumpkins and fairy lights that are starting to make sense as dusk approaches. Her breathing evens out, not sleep but peace, and I hold her like the treasure she is.

"Thank you," she whispers eventually.

"For?"

"For not running when I told you. For not judging. For this ridiculous perfect pumpkin paradise that's making me feel like a teenager experiencing her first real date."